Should've Been There
by ExpandingDarkness
Summary: Pete's sister is endangered by an artifact. Is it MacPherson's doing or just a coincidence? Pete/Myka affection, nothing more.
1. The Call

It was about three o'clock when a familiar tune blared out of Pete's pocket. Pete dove his hand into his pocket, holding up a finger for his partner to pause in their ping pong game in the sun room of Leena's Bed and Breakfast. He opened his phone and held it to his ear, "Hello?"

Then everything melted away.

"Hold on, _what_?" Pete asked, dread knotting his stomach and panic gripping his heart, "What's wrong? Are you okay? Dammit, Jessie, talk to me!"

Myka Bering set down her ping pong paddle in concern, Pete never cussed over the phone with anybody or had that frightened tone of voice either.

"A box? Fused to the floor causing earthquakes?" Pete frowned, walking over to the couch a few feet behind him and grabbing his jacket, "The building is going to collapse? Jessie, _Jessie_, I can't understand you when you talk fast!"

Myka rounded the table to stand beside her partner and mouthed: _what's going on?_

Pete shook his head toward her as he listened on the phone and then said to the recipient Jessie, "Okay, hold on, I'll be there as soon as I can--wait, Jessie!"

Pete lowered the phone away from his ear in bewilderment and then said to Myka, "My sister is in trouble. Something is in her office building in Dallas and she thinks it's an artifact."

"We should tell Artie then," Myka answered immediately, knowing by the look on Pete's face that it was bad.

* * *

"Absolutely not," Artie answered darkly to Pete's speech.

Pete's mouth dropped open for a moment in shock, "Artie--why not?"

"Because you have no proof that's an artifact," the older man replied, "You said that it was a box that was causing earthquakes in your sister's office building? That could easily be a trap set by MacPherson and you'll fall right into it. I wouldn't put it past him to concoct something like this."

"It can't be MacPherson because that was my sister's voice!" Pete argued, "It was a clear as day Jessie's voice."

"You should know better by now that there are artifacts that can mimic voices, that could be simply a recreation of your sister's voice."

"I'm willing to take the risk," Pete stared Artie down stubbornly.

"Well, I'm not!" Artie shot back.

"Artie, you should let Pete do this," Myka jumped into the conversation that was being held in the office of the Warehouse, "This is his sister we're talking about, she's his family and he won't forgive you if you make him stay and something happens to her."

"There's not going to be anybody making me stay," Pete said with more conviction and resolve than ever before turning away, "I'm going. You'll have to kill me if you want to stop me."

Then he was gone.

* * *

A/N: Should I continue? I'm trying to produce a darkly protective side of Pete where he defends both his family and Myka. He does have his moments of seriousness in the midst of his easy-going nature, I think. Oh, and I'll explain how Jessie knows about Pete's occupation and dealing with the artifacts.


	2. Drive

Foot on the accelerator like the world would end tomorrow, Pete drove like a maniac through traffic. The trees were blurred together and they were racing past cars that were swerving out of the way to avoid being hit by their SUV.

"Pete," Myka had been trying to get her partner's attention for five minutes, "Pete, slow down! You're going to get us killed!" Their job was dangerous enough to get them killed and they hadn't even gotten to their case. Pete was probably going to kill both of them in a car accident before they even got there! That would be the irony of the century. Two Secret Service agents that work in a high-risk job get killed in a car accident due to one of the agent's reckless driving to get to the high-risk job. Myka could see Artie's face then and that brought her back to getting her partner to slow the car down.

"Pete," Myka used the voice reserved for panic situations (which this was one of them), "Slow down. Talk to me."

Pete, whose eyes were glued to the road, didn't bother even looking at his companion, "I've got to get to Jessie."

"I know," Myka answered gently, "But you're going to hurt both of us if you don't slow down and get control of yourself."

"I do have control of myself."

"No, you don't. The Pete I know has a level head and wouldn't endanger himself and his partner."

Pete was silent before easing his foot off of the accelerator. Myka breathed out a sigh of relief. Another obstacle avoided. Pete was dangerous when off his cool. As rarely as that happened, Myka knew that Pete could inflict mass destruction if he was in the mood.

"Okay, now talk to me. Tell me about your sister," Myka continued to keep Pete under control. She saw Pete swallow and then he began to speak.

"Jessie works in Dallas at the Service outpost out there that investigates domestic crimes when not dealing with protecting the president."

"What does she look like?" Myka asked, keeping an eye on the accelerator and the road, "Describe her."

"She's my height, has long brown hair and green eyes," Pete inhaled sharply, "Jessie has really white, straight teeth. She's skinny, wears nice clothes, and usually wears jewelry."

"What kind of jewelry?" Myka asked to keep her partner talking.

"Earrings. Gold is her color. She usually wears studs or small loops. Peace signs when she's off work."

"What is her personality like?"

"She's like you."

Myka paused for a moment, "What kind of house does she live in?"

"Two-story. Four bedroom, three bath. Has a pool in the back and a deck," Pete rubbed his eyes and turned into a different lane.

"Does she have a husband or kids?"

"She adopted a baby boy a few years ago named Dillon. Jessie loves him more than anything in the entire world."

"A son? Your nephew then?"

"Yeah."

"You've never mentioned Jessie or Dillon before," Myka pointed out.

"I don't like talking about Jessie because she's something that I keep to myself," Pete tore his gaze from the road, "Someone special that's all mine that I don't have to share with anybody. Jessie used to be my center of attention for years and I didn't want her to be tainted in any way by anybody knowing about her. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah," Myka nodded, speaking softly, "Hey, Pete?"

"What?"

"How does Jessie know about what you do?"

Pete paused, focusing on the road signs, "I can't lie to her. She needs to know why I left. I was going to move back to the home area when Mrs. Frederick came to me and I told her I couldn't come home. I wasn't going to lie to her about it. Jessie trusts me too much for that. I have to keep her safe and also in the loop. She deserves it from me."

Myka swallowed, hearing the pain in Pete's voice. Obviously staying at the Warehouse was a constant pressure he never discussed. She felt guilty for bringing it up, but it had leveled Pete back to normal. She needed him to be in the right mind. Jessie needed Pete to be in the right mind if he was going to help her.

"Here's the exit," Pete announced sharply, turning the SUV, and Myka felt her heart pound. The car drove under the overpasses and Pete navigated the vehicle smoothly, calmer than before on the highway. Myka could feel the desperation radiating off her partner and it hurt her. She wanted so much to make him happy and calm, but she knew that that wouldn't happen until Jessie Lattimer was safe again. Minutes flew past and they shot into the heart of Dallas. Pete finally sent the vehicle into a screeching halt and leapt out of the driver's seat with his cellphone to his ear.

"Jessie," he spoke after redialing several times, "It's Pete, I'm here. Are you okay? Alright. Yeah, I'm coming. Things can get in but not out? Got'cha."

Myka listened in on her side as Pete spoke rapidly to his sister. Then Pete cursed repeatedly, "Jessie, Jessie! Dammit!"

"Where is she?" Myka asked immediately.

"Top floor. That's where the artifact is," Pete spoke quickly as he got the canister of purple fluid from the back of the SUV and began to charge down the concrete sidewalk leading to the front doors of the tall building, "Things can get in, but nothing is coming out. There's an electric field that electrocutes anything that tries to pass through to the outside. I want you to stay out here, Myka. I can take care of this."

"No, hold on," Myka grabbed Pete's shoulder, forcing him to stop in his tracks, "I'm going with you."

"No, you're not," Pete countered, continuing onward, "I don't want you to get hurt."

"I'll be fine," Myka said as she matched his pace. Then she was halted by Pete's hand around her wrist. Her partner's dark eyes were conflicted, but his voice was firm, "No, Myka. I'm not risking you getting hurt because of me."

"Well, it's not up to you to decide," Myka shot back, seeking strength from her seldom snappy attitude.

"Myka--"

"No, Pete, you're not going in there by yourself," Myka began to walk toward the building, "I'm going to help you, like it or not."

Pete stared at her for a moment longer in incredulity before catching up.


	3. Collapse

A/N: Kinda short chapter and I PROMISE I'll clear up all of y'all's questions in the next chapter.

By the way, Jessie isn't Pete's deaf sister. He has more than one sister. I'll bring in the deaf one in the next chapter or the one afterward. Depends on how much I get done :D

Reviews are love! Thank you for all who have submitted them so far *hugs*

* * *

The blood rushed around inside Pete's head as he and Myka stormed up the stairs to the top floor. Each landing they arrived at was more unsteady than the last. Pete's heart pounded in rhythm with his feet hitting the floor. _Let Jessie be okay_, was his mantra of the day. Deep cracks ran in the walls that weren't supposed to be in a building so new as the one that had been built just a mere year before. The stairs were crumbling due to the massive shocks they had received earlier. Pete nearly tripped on a gap in the floor as they raced upward. Finally, they reached the top floor of the building.

"Jessie?" Pete called, voice tinged with panic.

"Pete?" returned a voice across the room. A moment later, Pete was smacked into by a ball of black and brown. He wrapped his arms around his sister and held her tightly against his chest. Into her rose-scented hair, he whispered, "I was worried about you."

Jessie Lattimer released her brother and gazed up at him with deep metallic blue eyes, "I know. I was worried you wouldn't come."

"I'll always come," Pete answered firmly.

Jessie nodded and glanced over at Myka, "This is your partner?" she directed the question to Pete before directing her dialogue to Myka with an offered hand, "I'm Jessie Lattimer, Pete's sister and the administrator of this building."

"Myka Bering," Myka answered, shaking Jessie's hand, "Pete's partner."

"Nice to meet you," Jessie nodded, then she regarded both newcomers at once, "Y'all came just in time. The charge seems to be building up in that damn box."

"You mean the one that is causing the building to collapse?" asked Pete as Jessie gestured for them to follow her.

"Yeah, that thing," Jessie pointed over to a black box in the center of the floor, "Somebody left it in here I guess and then when somebody touched it, it started to release seismic energy."

Pete and Myka knelt in front of the box and pulled on the purple gloves.

"So, ideas?" asked Pete to Myka.

"Pour the neutralizer on it?"

"That could work."

Myka brought out a vial of neutralizer and poured a tiny bit of neutralizer on it first. The box sparked violently, causing the agents to jerk back.

"It'll cause a significant explosion," Pete observed. He looked up at his sister, "You need to get everybody out of the building."

"We've tried," Jessie answered, "There's an energy field running through the concrete that is allowing things to come through, but nothing go out."

"That could pose a problem," Pete muttered, "Have you tried taking out the box?"

"Nothing will cut through the box or floor because of the force field."

Pete was silent for a long time, "Any ideas?" he repeated to Myka.

Myka shook her head and Pete stood again, "Okay then, time for dumping the neutralizer on the box."

Jessie stood back as Myka got to her feet and Pete undid the canister. He raised it into position and then with confirmation began to pour. The floor began to shake first as the purple liquid hit the box. Then the walls began to tremor. Jessie glanced around worriedly at her office all around her. Myka stayed close to Pete as her partner kept up his pouring. Jessie gasped as the floor began to crack. Then suddenly the floor gave way beneath her.

"Jessie!" Pete shouted as he saw his sister fall through the floor. Then the electricity in the floor began to randomly spike. Myka yelped as small volts went through her boots, shocking her feet. Then the floor under her was losing structural integrity. Pete grabbed her around the waist as the last of the liquid was expelled from the container. Then with one last blast, the building began to come apart. Pete lost his footing and when both he and Myka hit the floor, the concrete began to give way.

"Hold onto me!" Pete yelled in Myka's ear as the floor bucked and swayed. The building felt as if it was swaying back and forth. With the tears in the walls, the office began to become exposed to the outside. The ceiling tiles crashed down around them and on top of them. Light blazed in and dust was picked up. Holding onto each other tightly, Pete and Myka felt themselves falling farther and faster.

Then there was only the darkness of oblivion.


End file.
